Picking up the Pieces
by ActionLover203
Summary: "Loki was always there to understand and comfort… now that I lost him… I was left alone". Kari now has to face the world without her brother. But unexpected circumstances tend to interfere with plans. But unfortunately these circumstances involve family.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

 **This is the sequel! I hope you guys like it... I don't know if I should make stories or one-shots to explain the relationship between Kari and Steve or if I should just elaborate more on their relationship...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Losing Loki had thrown me into a state of grief. Not that I didn't know what that was like. I lost my whole biological family, and that has plagued me since day one. But Loki was always there to understand and comfort… now that I lost him… I was left alone. Yes, I had Thor but that wasn't the same. He would always keep me smiling through the worst of days, and I tried to do the same. But I eventually went back to Midgard… unfortunately the days passed faster there than the days on Asgard. I had to continue the life I had built up there.

The reunion with Jane was heart-breaking… I didn't have the guts to tell her the Bifrost was lost to us. So I told her that he'll come as soon as he can… an excuse I tell them whenever I'm on Asgard. I have been meaning to go back to my apartment back in New York, so that was what I did. But I am sad to say that my moment of relaxation was not well-lived before I got a call from a very familiar person,

"Nick? What's wrong?" I asked as a black man with an eye-patch appeared on a 'screen' that emanated from my communication crystal.

"I'm surprised that your caller id was on, it's usually off." He commented, tilting his head a little.

"Ha ha. You wouldn't call me just to say hi. Especially since you know I'm from Asgard now" I retaliated, giving him a smirk.

"I need your help…" Nick said, his urgency flowing out of the screen.

"Very well… I will help. Where do I meet you?" I accepted, raising my eyebrows.

"I'll send you the coordinates" Nick said as he nodded.

"Alright then. I'm guessing it's gonna be far?" I suggested, sitting back in my seat.

"Yep. I'll be sending a jet to pick you up" Nick agreed

"Should I know what it is?" I tried as I raised my eyebrows.

"It's best if you come here… I think that you wanna be here to… see it for yourself" Nick explained as a growing weariness leaked out of the barrier.

"Okay… I'll see you then" I accepted as I nodded

* * *

The jet ride wasn't too long, and the conversation with Coulson was quite pleasant. We talked about a lot, now that I am thinking about it… We talked about his trading cards, his plans for a vacation, and many other things.

"You don't know what Nick wants me for?" I asked as I sat on one of the chairs bolted to the floor.

"He only said it was urgent… and it has something to do with, um… you know what? I think you should hear it from him" Coulson said before he cut himself off.

I frowned at his weariness. He seemed a little… scared and sad at the same time. I sighed but didn't question him. We arrived at the ginormous Helicarrier that was resting in the water. We landed and got out onto the concrete deck. As we sauntered into the Intelligence Centre, I sat down at the table behind the access point where Nick usually stood watch. But he wasn't there.

"He's with the Council at the moment, but he'll be here soon" Coulson assured, giving me a smile.

I nodded and gave a smile of my own. He left me and attended to his duties. Someone's weariness and fear washed over my body when I leaned on my elbows. I pinpointed those emotions coming from Nick Fury. I looked over my shoulder and followed him as he stood in front of the table. I took a deep breath as his weariness poked my skin.

He put a file down in front of me. I opened the file and examined the image of the Tesseract. I frowned at this and looked up at him. I knew Howard Stark had retrieved the Tesseract when he was looking for Steve, but I was confused why he was showing it to me now.

"Someone took it from us" Nick stated, not elaborating any further.

I turned the page and saw a horrifying scene. Loki was standing in the middle of the room filled with the corpses of dead agents. He was holding a sceptre and it looked like he had enjoyed every moment of it. I put a hand over my mouth and dropped the folder. I didn't know what to say… what could I say?

"And that… someone was… Loki?" I asked after a few moments of dreadful silence.

I looked at him, trying not to cry as he nodded. I swallowed my sadness and leaned on my elbows once again.

"I'm assuming he was your brother?" Nick suggested.

I nodded and didn't try to verbally answer. His realization didn't faze me, I only sat there in silence. After a scanty amount of silence, I broke it.

"So you're going to get the Avengers in?" I questioned. I knew about the Initiative and I had known who they were.

"I am going to try" he answered. I nodded and smiled.

"At least I can see Steve again" I grinned. I had known Steve before and after he fell into the ice. I also tried to help him catch up with the time.

"I sent Coulson to fetch him now" Nick stated, folding his arms.

"That's good… but can I ask for a briefing package though? I have a feeling that if I am to work with them, I need to know what I have to put up with" I questioned as I looked up at him. He nodded and called for an agent.

A young woman gave him a large tablet and he handed it to me. I unclipped the stand from it and clipped the tablet in again. As I opened the files, my heart skipped when I saw Thor being blasted back by the Destroyer.

* * *

I rewatched a lot of the clips and I had to rewind them to understand what happened. The one that intrigued me the most was Bruce Banner. It looked painful, growing into a big green beast. I looked up to see that everyone was prepared to lift off. A screen showed the Helicarrier's engines spin, but my thinking process was interrupted by someone poking my sides. This surprised me and I gasped,

"By the Norns!"

I looked up saw Steve Rogers's blue eyes staring at me with delight. His happiness made me smile, so I stood up and gave him a hug.

"It's good to see you again Steve! I see you're finally wearing that leather jacket I bought you" I commented as I stood back to get a good look.

"Why wouldn't I?" Steve asked with a smile on his chiselled face.

Natasha's nostalgia filled my lungs while Bruce's shyness crept into my fingers. I turned my attention to Bruce and gave him a smile. I shook his hand,

"And you must be Dr Banner. My name is Kari"

"Nice to meet you" He said as he gave me a shy smile.

I ignored conversations that were made with Dr Banner and instead I focused on Steve,

"And? What do you think?" I asked as I looked up at him

"It's weirder than I expected. To be honest, I thought that we'd crash" Steve answered as his excitement and curiosity tickled my body.

"There has been quite a few prototypes before this one… and I am proud to say that this one is quite functional" I said, puffing my chest out a little. I don't know why… I just did.

"Why did you come here?" Steve asked when his confusion sparked through my toes.

"Nick said it was urgent… and I don't leave my friends hanging" I stated as I crossed my shoulders.

"Which reminds me…" Steve said before he left the conversation and gave Nick a ten dollar bill. This confused me a bit, but I assumed he made a bet and lost… as it is with all men these days. I looked at Steve with sheer happiness as he walked down the rows of computers with confusion written on his face. I approached him and gave him a grin.

We walked up the steps to the table and took off his jacket. He put it on the table. I leaned on it and watched as Phil spoke to Steve about his trading cards. His excitement bounced around in my head. This made me smile.

"I wanted to ask you… I mean I collected a few Captain America trading cards and I just wanted to ask if could sign them?" Phil raved

"Sure! I'd love to" Steve answered, which caused Phil's excitement to sky-rocket.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble." Phil said as a sense of nervousness vibrated through my fingers.

"No, no. It's fine" Steve assured as he looked out at the ocean of computers.

I moved to the rails where I leaned on my arms. I smiled once again as Coulson's pride swept into my stomach.

"It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint" Coulson jabbered on. "Slight foxing around the edges but…"

He was interrupted by a beeping noise and an agent reporting.

"We got a hit. A 67% match. Wait. Cross match, 79%"

"Location?" Coulson asked as he neared the agent who reported.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königstrasse. He's not exactly hiding" The agent stated.

"Captain, you're up" Nick Fury said. I could sense Steve's heart skipping a beat before he went off to put on his uniform.

I simply moved my hands over my body and allowed little stars to cover me. They dissipated and I stood in my armour. I summoned my spear and quickly jogged to the landing zone. Natasha came out clad in leather while being followed by Steve. He had his typical blue, red and white uniform with his helmet. We hopped on the jet. Steve and I sat and strapped in while Natasha started the engine. We took off and headed for Germany.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yep... sequel. *air horn sounds***

 **Hope you enjoy and I'll...**

 **See you in the next chapter ;3**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 **Woo! This one was fast! I'm kind of proud of myself. Just a side-note, you don't have to read A Giant with a Small Heart, but it'll help with how Thor and Loki know Kari and have a good sibling relationship... relatively speaking.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The crowd's fear almost choked me as we hovered over the spectacle Loki orchestrated. His cruel excitement made me want to throw him through the building. Just because we are siblings, it doesn't mean I can't hit him… or throw him. We listened for a little bit to understand what he was trying to accomplish. But with every word that came from his mouth, my anger kept on building. How could my brother change so drastically? I took in his appearance though, from in this jet I could barely see his eyes. They looked tired while he looked like he had withdrawal symptoms. I don't know what he was missing to make him look that way… but I knew it wasn't something good.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" Loki asked the crowd. I knew the people could understand him. We had the Allspeak, which means we can speak any language. If we speak English others will hear it in their language.

"It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes you life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled" Loki continued as he walked down through the crowd. "In the end, you will always kneel"

"Not to men like you" An old man said defiantly as he stood up. He looked Loki in the eyes. My heart raced when Loki became cruelly pleased that someone stood up. He wanted to make an example.

"There are no men like me" Loki argued with a smile.

"There are always men like you" The man responded.

I tapped Steve's arm lightly, silently telling him to do something. Natasha opened the back and waited for Steve and me to jump out.

"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example" Loki declared as he readied to shoot the old man.

Steve jumped in the way and held up his shield. I landed behind him and next to the old man. The beam ricocheted off the shield and into Loki's stomach. The reaction caused Loki to flip to the ground in between the kneeling crowd. Steve finally stood up and looked at Loki. His anger boiled my insides, but I didn't take heed.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing" Steve commented as he neared Loki. I turned and made sure the old man was alright. He nodded quickly and hid behind me. I turned again and faced them.

"The soldier" Loki said in disbelief, but he stood up with a chuckle. "The man out of time"

"I'm not the one who's out of time" Steve corrected.

I heard the Quinjet hover behind us with Natasha saying on the PA,

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

It looked like Loki was contemplating it, but that was interrupted by his sudden blast at the jet. Steve threw the shield at Loki and it bounced off him.

"Get out of here!" I screamed at the crowd.

I didn't fight Loki but I made sure the civilians were out of the way of the fight. I saw Loki hit Steve away with the hilt of his spear, so I jumped in with my own. I jumped to get a good angle but Loki tried to blast me away. I dodged the beam and landed next to him. I swung the blade at his head but he ducked. He retaliated with a hit to my stomach, which I blocked. I attempted to kick him, unfortunately that didn't play out. He escaped the blow and moved behind me. I saw Steve's shield fly over my head but the shield was hit away with Loki's spear. I didn't dare hesitate to hit him with my hilt of my spear. He slid away a bit by the force. I ducked and allowed Steve to hop over me.

Loki swerved away from Steve's blow. He landed and matrixed Loki's swing. Steve dodged another swing and tried to punch Loki in the side. Poor Steve was knocked away with the back of the blade for his efforts and landed on his stomach. I jumped in, morphed my spear into a hammer and swung at Loki. The force knocked Loki to his back and I swung another time to try and pin Loki to the ground. He flipped backwards onto his feet and shot at me. The blast collided with my stomach. This caused me to fall to my stomach. I curled into a ball of pain. A ping of concern rang from Loki but… something else forced it down.

I couldn't look up to see the fight but I did hear Steve groan. I heard "Shoot to Thrill" by ACDC play from the Quinjet. Someone's familiar pride rang through my ears and caused me to look up. I smiled as I saw a red and gold suit blast Loki back and land. I got up and ignored my body's screams of denial. I summoned my spear and stood next to Tony Stark in a defensive position.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games" Tony said challengingly.

Loki's helmet dissipated while he held up his hands. I heard Tony's weaponry clip back into his suit as he said,

"Good move"

"Mr Stark" Steve greeted as he nodded in his direction.

"Captain" Tony responded.

I let out a sigh before I sagged I looked at Tony through the slits and shook my head in disappointment.

"You could've played a better song"

They both looked at me, Steve had his signature "Really?" look while Tony did his "Meh" head tilt.

* * *

We all stood away from Loki, who was sitting in his chair strapped in. I held my stomach as I leaned on one of the chairs furthest from Loki. I didn't bother listening to their conversations. Instead, I focused on what Loki's emotions were. I could sense a few glances coming from him while his concern sprang into my sore stomach. But every time his concern flourished, it was cut down by an unknown force. My train of thought derailed as I sensed Steve's annoyance bounce into my head. I looked at Tony and Steve as they spoke.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in" Steve said

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you" Tony responded as his disappointment grew.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard loud thunder. I looked at Loki who was looking up in fear. The thunder rumbled even more.

"What's the matter? Are you scared of a little lightning?" Steve taunted as I summoned my hammer.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows" Loki responded as he kept looking around.

The jet quaked by something landing on the roof. Or should I say some _one_. I neared Loki a bit to protect him from the imminent danger. The jet shook even more and caused us to almost fall down. Tony put on his helmet while Natasha tried to adjust the jet. Tony pressed a button to open the rear hatch but before he could investigate, Thor landed in front of him. Loki's fear hopped through my legs before I tightened my grip on my hammer. Tony powered up his gauntlet, but was cut short by Thor punching him with Mjolnir. Tony fell into Cap and they both tumbled. Thor glared at me and waited for my response. I gave a sigh before I nodded slowly. He jumped off and flew away. I groaned but reluctantly jumped off after him.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Like I said before, it isn't required to read A Giant with a Small Heart, but it is helpful to know who the character is (Kari).**

 **Did you like how I described Steve and Tony's looks? I didn't know how to describe the emotion the were feeling when they do that so I just brainfarted this... Yep, that's how you do it...**

 **Without further a due I'll...**

 **See you in the next chapter ;3**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

 **This one was not as fast as the previous one, but fast nonetheless. I hope you enjoy this one, it's a long chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

"Did you mourn?" I heard Loki say as I approached the mountain.

I landed on my knees with a big boom next to Mjolnir. I stood up and allowed my anger to cloud my eyes with tears.

"We all did" I answered as I approached them.

"Our father…" Thor tried before Loki interrupted him by holding out a finger.

"Your father" Loki corrected. Thor had him by the neck but released him as Loki uttered those words.

"He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" Loki asked as his annoyance surged through me.

"And that is your reasoning for trying to rule Midgard? Being someone else's child? I remember telling you that I may not be your sister, but you will always be my brother" I argued as he held his back and limping away from Thor.

"We were raised together. We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Thor said as he followed Loki. I stood between them to prevent Thor from hitting Loki… even if I wanted to do it myself.

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I, who was, and should be, king!" Loki falsely remembered as his sadness grew even more… it was as if he was forced to say this.

"That is where you were wrong… I… you let go of… Gungnir and… you let go of Gungnir and… _fell_ into the abyss… I remember crying for _weeks_! You fell into that abyss knowing what you were about to do!" I cried, pushing him lightly. My tears clouded my vision but that didn't stop me from continuing my rant. "I remember trying to wake up from that walking nightmare and trying to find you! But I couldn't! I had to face my warped life now that I had lost you! Do know how that feels?!"

I almost hit Loki across the jaw if it wasn't for Thor holding me back. I could feel both of Thor's hands gripping my wrist while Loki flinched. When I realised what I almost did, I stopped pulling away from Thor and turned. He let go of my hand and allowed me to walk away. I didn't want to listen anymore, for I knew that if I did… I would have actually tried to kill Loki for his lies. The tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I sat on one of the big rocks. I tried to conjure up possible suspects for Loki's sudden memory wipe. But my thoughts dissipated when I heard Thor ask,

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be king?"

"I am a king!" Loki barked

"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home" Thor fumed as his anger made me want to cry even more.

"I don't have it" Loki simply said as his sadness was forced down by a blow of false realization. I heard Thor summon Mjolnir but was interrupted by Loki's deductions.

"You need the Cube to bring me home. But I've sent it off, I know not where"

"You listen well, brother…" Thor warned before her was blasted off a mountain by an unknown force that sounded like a jet engine.

I squeaked at the abrupt surprise and fell off the mountain as well. I landed on my back with a loud grunt. I looked up and saw Loki's well-known concerned expression morph into a face of cruel amusement. I quickly jumped up and rushed to stop Tony and Thor. As I arrived I saw Steve talking to them calmly. He jumped down a fallen tree and explained,

"Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here"

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes" Thor responded as his defiance struck my head.

"Then prove it. Put that hammer down" Steve suggested.

"Uh, yeah… no. Bad call. He loves his hammer" Tony said before he was swung away by Thor.

"Oh no" I sighed before I hid behind a rock.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor challenged before he leaped at Steve.

Steve however, retaliated by holding up his shield. Mjolnir collided with the shield and created a sonic boom that sounded like a bell. Miraculously Steve was still standing while I on the other hand almost flew back if it wasn't for the rock I was cowering behind. I stood up and sauntered to the three bumbling idiots. I crossed my arms when Steve asked,

"Are we done, here?"

They all looked at me with expressions of tiredness to which I responded with a shrug of my shoulders and a witty remark,

"Don't look at me, I was not the one who started it"

* * *

As we were all waiting at the table for Loki to be incarcerated, my thoughts kept on bouncing at the fact that Loki's memories were altered. The only person who could do that was Loki himself… but why would he alter his own mind?

" _In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass,_ " Nick threatened over the live video. He was pressing a button that opened a hatch beneath the cage and continued. " _it's 30 000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?"_

Nick closed the hatch and pointed to Loki and then to the button before taunting, " _Ant, boot"_

" _It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me"_ Loki responded as he walked back to the centre of the cage.

" _Built for something a lot stronger than you"_ Nick claimed defiantly.

" _Oh, I've heard"_ Loki stated before turning to the camera. _"A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creature to defend you?"_

I looked up at Banner and then to Thor as Loki taunted Nick.

" _How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did"_ Nick responded as he neared Loki. I had stopped watching… I didn't want to look him in the eyes

" _Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is"_ Loki bragged even more, but what struck me was what he was implying about Nick coming so close to something.

" _Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something"_ Nick quipped as he walked away.

The live video cut off with Loki looking at the camera and it left us with silence. I could feel Bruce's uncomfortable demeanour pulse through my head as he asked,

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked while his determination started to leak into my head as well. A pain started at the back of my head and slowly made its way to my eyes.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract" Thor responded when his weariness caused me to close my eyes. They started to sting because of the brewing headache.

"An army from outer space" Steve said in disbelief.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for" Bruce elaborated.

I decided to drown out their conversation because the headache made me clutch my hair. Natasha's annoyance and sadness caused my head to pound, but before it could become worse, Steve called my name.

"Kari? You okay?"

"I'm… I'm okay… yeah" I responded wearily. I didn't want to worry them.

"Kari…" Thor said in a questioning tone. Like he knew what I was thinking. I took a deep breath before I tried to explain what I could sense from Loki,

"Something is wrong with Loki… every time he feels a sliver of concern or sadness… _some_ thing is forcing it down and replacing it with arrogance. I noticed that his eyes were the wrong colour too…"

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked

"He used to have green eyes… I only see blue now… I watched the video where he… took control of them… And they had blue eyes. This is just a theory… I don't know if it's purely coincidental" I elaborated, the headache subsiding as I did.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him" Bruce said with his doubtfulness growing.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother" Thor warned as he unfolded his arms.

"He killed 80 people in two days" Natasha threw out as she looked at him.

"He's adopted" Thor replied sheepishly. I rolled my eyes and sighed,

"I have brother who's behind bars and a brother who is a bumbling fool… would anyone like to trade me their lives with mine?" I asked sarcastically as looked at everyone with a deadpan look. I could sense Thor was offended as he looked at me which made me smile.

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium… What do they need iridium for?" Bruce suggested and asked.

"It's a stabilising agent" Tony Stark said from behind me.

"Oh wow, here comes Mr. Idiot who flies into a God and thinks he can win" I joked and smiled when Tony gave me his look of disappointment.

"It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing" Tony explained as he walked past Thor and tapped his bicep. Thor's annoyance trailed behind Tony as he walked on.

"Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants" Tony elaborated as we walked to where Nick normally stood to look out. "Uh, raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails"

He joked around while the other agents' annoyance crept in as well, "That man is playing _Galaga_. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did"

He pointed at an agent but then turned his attention to Nick's monitors. He covered his one eye and turned to look at Maria Hill.

"How does Fury even see these?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"He turns" Maria stated while her delight crept in when she saw Tony's flabbergasted expression.

"Sounds exhausting" Tony deducted and turned around to face a monitor.

I don't know what he did, but his emotions gave him away. A sliver of nervousness and sneakiness crept through my spine and caused me to frown.

"The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-density" Tony explained as he turned to face us. He did a strange hand movement and started before I interrupted him,

"Something to—"

"Kick-start the Cube…" I finished

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked sceptically.

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony asked as he threw his arms out

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve questioned as his confusion doubled.

"Any power source with enough energy that could break the Coulomb barrier…" I answered as I looked at Steve.

"But he would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin to do that though" Bruce finished as his mind started catching on. Tony caught on too.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect" Tony elaborated more as he walked closer to Bruce.

"If he could do that… he could achieve—" I marvelled before Bruce finished my sentence again,

"Heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet"

"Finally, someone who speaks English" Tony gasped as his disbelief made me shake my head.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked when his confusion just exploded his mind.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I realized it was becoming a bit too long, so the rest of the conversation will be in the next chapter. I hope you guys liked it and if you did you can leave a review if you have read the first story and liked Kari and have any ideas on how I can describe their emotions better... i'm just getting a feeling that I am telling not showing...**

 **But anyway! I hope to...**

 **See you in the next chapter! ;3**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

 **This is a short chapter for starters, but I just wanted to get it out here so that you guys have a little something to read. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and its silly antics.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster" Tony complimented…

I don't know why I did this, I don't know how I did this and I don't know what happened to make me do this. But an instinct told me to scold Tony for what he said to Bruce. I was one of the caretakers that looked after Tony when his parents died. So I… uh… said this,

"Anthony Edward Stark!"

"Sorry!" He immediately replied as his fear mixed with everyone else's shock.

I could sense the whole room freeze up because of the sudden scold and I swear I heard agents say "ooh shit". I covered my mouth when I realized what I had done. Steve desperately tried his best to stifle his laughter, Thor turned away as his delight spilled, and Natasha covered her mouth as well to cover the smile while Bruce's embarrassment made its way into my throat. Tony's embarrassment also mixed with everyone else's alarm. I heard Nick walk into the Centre. His confusion made me want to hide, so I put my head on the table. He wrote off the awkward tension and went on as if nothing happened.

"Dr Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him"

"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works and awful lot like a HYDRA weapon" Steve commented as if he didn't almost die of a laugh attack.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys" Nick said while Thor's confusion blasted my eyes.

"Monkeys? I do not understand"

"I do. I understood that reference" Steve announced proudly as Tony's embarrassment was replaced with annoyance. I finally lifted my head and put on a dead look.

"Flying monkeys are from the motion picture The Wizard Of Oz, wherein the evil character the Wicked Witch of the West has an army of minions which are literally flying monkeys, which act as relatively mindless drones that kidnapped Dorothy and try to take her red boots… I'll try to make you watch it" I chimed in and ignored everyone's shock.

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asked Bruce after a few moments of silence.

"This way, sir" Bruce responded

Everyone went on as if nothing happened and continued with their work. I stayed with Thor when Nat and Steve went their separate ways. I was trying to stay positive as I told him about what I found with Loki. I wanted to confront him, so I did. The Detention Level was actually quite scary. The cell Loki was in dangled over a closed hatch, which made me feel sorry for him. His weariness was brought down by the same force that brings down his true emotions. I walked up to one of the "viewing decks" and crossed my arms. Again, I allowed my anger to cloud my judgement.

"Why?" I asked him. His confusion made my legs swell into jelly.

"Why what?" He retaliated as he turned to face me.

"Why did you let go? You had two choices… one, to let us help you up… two, to let go. Why did you choose to let go?" I asked again after I explained it.

"Why do you wish to know?" Loki digressed. He was trying to avoid those questions.

"I want to understand why my dearest brother wanted to die… and why he came back as a… as a monster" I stammered a bit. My tears almost fell down my cheeks as I said those last words. I remember telling Loki that I would never see him as a monster, no matter what. But it became harder and harder to see my brother in those demented eyes.

"I would say my mind has been expanded" Loki said with a smile. A voice, _his_ voice crept into my head and apologised,

" _Kari, I am so sorry…"_

I tilted my head and frowned. That didn't stop me from replying to him in my head.

" _Loki? Why can't you speak?"_ I asked him.

" _It's a long story, I can't explain it now. Something is forcing me to say these things… I can't talk for too… long"_ Loki voiced back, his volume lowering in my head. I examined him closely. It was like he hadn't spoken to me at all, his eyes didn't even waver as his voice was drowned out

"Whatever is forcing you to do this, I am going to find out what that is. Even if you don't want to tell me" I warned before his eyes widened a bit.

…So he has been aware of what he was saying in his head. He turned quickly and walked to his "bed". I frowned again. I sighed and broke my stance. I walked away from the cell in sadness. My brother was still in there.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This chapter is based on my headcanon that molded with someone else's. I don't know whose headcanon though. But my headcanon goes like this:**

 **The sceptre contains the Mind Stone, it was revealed in Avengers: Age of Ultron. And Thanos was using it to influence Loki to get the Tesseract (even if he didn't know about it at the time... or maybe he did, I don't know). The Mind Stone forced Loki to do these things, but because Kari and Thor is here, Loki is suddenly torn from the influence, even if it is just a little bit. That's why he could speak to Kari in his head but not his mouth. His memories is still shaken up, but the Stone couldn't alter Loki's memories with Kari. Another reason for his emotions jumping around.**

 **I don't know if this made sense in the way I explained it. If you disagree with this headcanon or want to add more to it, you can leave a review. But as always I will...**

 **See you in the next chapter ;3**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

 **This chapter took a bit longer than expected, even though it's a bit short.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

" _Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way. Send Thor and Kari as well"_ I heard Natasha say over the comms.

I looked at Thor with concern before we headed to the lab. Natasha joined us. When we got there though, Steve, Banner and Tony were fighting with Nick.

"I was wrong Director. The world hasn't changed a bit" We heard Steve say as his disappointment and anger poked my stomach.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Natasha after she entered.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" She retaliated.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed" Bruce chuckled as he nervously paced

"Loki is manipulating you" Natasha warned as her weariness mixed in with Bruce's anger.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Bruce argued.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you" Natasha answered.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I want to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction" Bruce demanded as his anger started to boil my insides.

"Because of him" Nick said and pointed at Thor.

"Me?" Thor asked sceptically.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned" Nick explained. Everyone's negative emotions started to get to me.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet" Thor tried as his annoyance pricked my skin.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled" Nick stated.

"Like you control the Cube?" Steve asked

"Making weapons is not going to better your situation. What if someone else gets a hold of these weapons you've made? I have seen throughout history that idiots who design weapons, loses those weapons to an evil force. If you make weapons with the Tesseract—" I tried before Thor cut me off.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war" Thor finished, his anger also starting to boil inside me.

"A higher form?" Steve questioned.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something—" Nick explained before Tony interrupted him.

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down"

"Remind me how you made your fortune, Stark" Nick quipped

"Yet you all seem to forget the reason why he stopped making weapons. They were taken by terrorists" I argued while Steve and Tony's anger and disappointment started to stab me in my chest.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep…" Steve started before he was cut off by Tony.

"Hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony asked as he neared Steve.

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve asked sarcastically.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this" Thor commented, making things worse.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Nick asked as he looked at Thor.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust" Thor growled.

My head started pounding with all those negative emotions. I breathed out and held onto a table. No one noticed, I'm glad they didn't. Their anger, disappointment and disbelief started to perforate my insides. I heard a ringing in my ears. I looked up and saw the sceptre glowing. I couldn't do anything though.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos" Thor observed, pointing out humanity's irony.

"That's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team?" Bruce asked rhetorically before answering his own question. "No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb"

"You need to step away" Nick warned as he neared Banner with caution

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked as he put a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"You know damn well why. Back off!" Steve barked as he threw off Tony's hand.

I started to clutch my side in pain and took shallow breaths. Steve and Tony's anger boiled the holes made by everyone else's negative emotions. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on patching my insides. This gift will kill me some day. I snapped back to reality when I heard Tony ask. I could feel his sadness flow into my stomach,

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle"

His sadness was then replaced with more anger and disappointment. My feet wanted to move to stop the fight, but I couldn't. Tony's sudden hot flush made me look up at him. But before I could say something, Banner barked.

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried" His anger made my pain double. I closed my eyes but still listened to the conversation.

"I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out" Banner explained after he received everyone's shock. "So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone at risk"

I finally opened my eyes and straightened as I saw Bruce taking Loki's sceptre off the table. I took out my "stick" for summoning my weapons.

"You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" Bruce asked. Everyone's weariness shot me in the side, which made me tilt my head.

"Dr Banner, put down the sceptre" Steve instructed. Banner looked down and his sudden realization cooled my insides a bit.

A computer beeped and caused everyone to turn. My torment didn't stop though. Everyone started to rush around. I still clutched to the table and ignored the arguments that were made further. But I could still feel their anger puncturing my side. Banner's realization cooled it a bit again, but not in a good way this time. An explosion went off in the middle of the room. Everyone was blasted back, including myself.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I wanted to emphasize what emotions do to Kari because of her "gift". To ease your curiosity, sh isn't just feeling it, it is actually happening. The burning of her insides when the rest of the team fought was actually happening, the insides were _actually_ burning. Yeah it's morbid, I know. But having some form of power must have some kind of flaw. Like little scars around Tony's Arc Reactor, stretch marks across Steve's body because of the experiment and the scars Nat has from her missions.**

 **Her weapon is actually a magic handle. Yeah, yeah laugh it out. But that's how she summons her weapons. The handle has magical engravings that, when she taps it, the weapon will appear. Like she'll tap one symbol and her hammer is "summoned" into the handle. It is a discrepancy I know. But I'll try to write more about it. Let me know what you think by leaving a review, or P.M. me if you have more ideas for how she feels the emotions. But as always I'll...**

 **See you in the next chapter ;3**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

 **I am not gonna say anything about Stan Lee's death, because if I do I might cry... so...**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The pain made me cry out as I landed on my sore stomach. My organs were still healing after that shitstorm of negative emotions. I may have perfected drowning out the negative emotions on a battlefield, but I couldn't do that off the battlefield. After a few minutes of groaning, I looked around and saw Thor on his knees, trying to stand up. I sat up while Thor rose to his feet. He gave me a hand and I accepted it.

"We have to stop the Hulk from tearing this ship apart" I ordered.

He nodded, but before he could say something we heard a loud roar. Thor started to sprint towards the roar. I couldn't run yet so I jogged. Curse my stupid "gift"! I decided that fighting wasn't a good solution, so I went to the Intelligence Centre to see what I can do to help. I was greeted with explosions and flying agents. I saw arrows flying all over the place. I looked up and saw Barton. Before Nick could shoot, I summoned my bow and an arrow and tried to shoot. Clint dodged the bullets and the arrow.

" _Engine one is now in shut-down"_ an agent announced over the PA.

I could feel the ship tilting as it fell out of the sky. My body slid to the rails and before I could stop myself, I flew over them. I somehow managed to land on a male agent that was sprawled on the floor. A grunt came out of him, so I scrambled up and helped him out.

"Sorry! Are you alright?" I asked him as he pulled himself up.

"Yeah, yeah" He dismissed. He let go of my hand and rushed to his station.

" _We are now in an uncontrolled descent"_ An agent said over the PA.

" _Sir, we've lost all power to engine one"_ Another agent said over the comms.

" _It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?"_ Fury stated over the comms.

" _This is Agent Romanoff. I copy"_ Natasha said over the comms

I quickly realized that Loki wanted to escape. So I rushed to the detention level. Unfortunately I encountered a few enemy agents down the halls. I summoned my hammer and squished them to the walls and my spear decapitated a few of them too. The ship started to level out under my feet. I rushed to the detention level and saw the cage was gone. But that didn't matter because I quickly saw Fury stand in front of Coulson. The medical team was there too. Their sadness started to puncture my heart.

"Agent Coulson is down" Fury said into the comms.

" _A medical team is on its way to your location"_ An agent responded

"They're here. They called it" Fury said as his sadness punctured my heart. My own sadness leaked out of my eyes in the form of tears.

I covered my mouth to stop me from crying out. Nick put a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. He then pulled me into a hug. I held him for a good few minutes. After that he led me back into the Intelligence Centre where Steve and Tony were already sitting. Their sadness also started to leak into my tears. I still kept my hand over my mouth but stopped when Nick began to speak,

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them" He tossed the bloody trading cards on the table in front of Steve.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor… I got nothing for you," Nick continued. "I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming"

His disappointment in himself mixed with Steve's sadness and Tony's anger. I lowered my head and took a trading card. It had a comic version of Steve storming into battle with other soldiers. A few drops of blood were on the corners, but that didn't bother me. I ignored Nick's further explanations and focused on the memory I had with Coulson when he got this trading card. I saw a little boy dressed in little shorts and a plaid shirt running towards me with excited laughter.

" _Auntie Kari, look! Mommy bought me a Captain America trading card!"_ The little boy said as he jumped to me. He showed me the exact trading card I had in my hand

" _That's wonderful!"_ I commented excitedly as I crouched to meet the boy's height. A woman walked up behind the boy and said in a posh British accent,

" _You have to take good care of it, Phillip! Someday you may have two and you can trade the second one for another one"_ The women explained to her son.

The boy's expression brightened even more. He gave me a big smile before he turned to his mom. I snapped back as Nick said,

"Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes"

Tony stood up from his seat and walked away. His mind was working and it was trailing behind him too. Nick went on though and dismissed it,

"Well, it's an old-fashioned notion"

A sigh escaped me as I stood up and went to the Detention level. I saw Tony stand there and contemplate. I didn't want to disturb him so I sat down on the edge and looked at the closed hatch. Tony's determination to figure this out almost put a smile on my face. Steve's suppressed sadness poked my belly. I saw his feet next to me, so I looked up at him. I quickly looked down and took a deep breath.

"Was he married?" Steve asked, attempting small-talk.

"No. There was a cellist, I think" Tony answered

"I'm sorry," Steve apologised as his sympathy tickled my skin. "He seemed like a good man"

"He was an idiot" Tony stated simply as he walked away from the ledge.

"Why? For believing?" Steve asked as his annoyance flared up.

"For taking on Loki alone" Tony answered.

"He was doing his job" Steve dismissed. His annoyance diminished a bit.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…" Tony scoffed before he was interrupted by Steve. I stood up and leaned on the rails.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony" Steve tried as he neared Tony.

"Right, I've heard that before" Tony said as his annoyance started to prick my skin. I went up to them and stood in the middle of them. But I needed to see how this played out before I could do anything, so I stood by the side-lines.

"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" Steve questioned as he followed Tony.

"We are not soldiers" Tony snapped. I quickly stepped in and put my hand on his chest lightly, signalling him to calm down. That didn't stop him from his anger though. I welcomed his realization growing into my hands as I lowered my hand.

"I'm not marching to Fury's fife" Tony stated.

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we got to put that behind us and get this done" Steve explained as his determination soothed my insides. Tony looked at the blood stain that was made by Phil.

"Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list…" Steve elaborated before being cut off by Tony.

"He made it personal" Tony said as his sudden realization hit my stomach.

"That's not the point" Steve countered.

I stopped listening and tried to understand what Tony meant. What does he mean by that? I took a deep breath before looking Tony in the eyes.

"He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience" Tony explained as he walked past Steve and me.

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart" Steve said as his realization also poked my stomach.

"Yeah, this was just previews. This is opening night. And Loki is a full-tilt diva right?" Tony asked and when I nodded, he went on with his rant.

"He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered…" Tony lectured before he cut himself off. Steve and I glanced at each other before looking back at Tony.

"Son of a bitch" Tony cursed as he walked past us both. His anger trailed behind him.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Not gonna say much accept that I want to dedicate this story to Stan Lee. He inspired me to believe in heroes and write about them. So I'll...**

 **See you in the next chapter DX**


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